


Balance

by ItFlare



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Child Death, Death, Exploration of Death, M/M, Thanatos POV, description of death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27981438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItFlare/pseuds/ItFlare
Summary: The push and pull is unending. A scale that must not be tipped in any direction.Yet here he is doing his best to delay the inevitable. It is in his nature to understand that all things must end in time except for the gods and eternity itself. To begin elsewhere.He wonders why it never occurred to him that a being with a heart pumping blood and warmth did not belong in the underworld.
Relationships: Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 74





	Balance

Thanatos’ role is not easy, yet it is not hard.

To be death incarnate is to end and begin. To touch a hand and sap the last remaining bits of life from a physical form. He ends their time in the mortal realm then opens the door to a new beginning, to eternity. 

The push and pull is unending. A scale that must not be tipped in any direction. 

Yet here he is doing his best to delay the inevitable. It is in his nature to understand that all things must end in time except for the gods and eternity itself. To begin elsewhere.

He wonders why it never occurred to him that a being with a heart pumping blood and warmth did not belong in the underworld. 

That his Zagreus would one day leave them.  _ Him. _

They are opposite. It cannot be.

Zagreus is hot, skin always a comforting warmth. A child of fire and brimstone, of life and rebirth. A phoenix in his own right, regeneration and renewal. His name means Great Hunter. One who catches _ live _ animals. One with no wish to kill, only to help. To better.

And now to _ escape _ . 

To  _ leave. _

Everything Thanatos is not.

There is no room for death in his existence. It is against his very nature to seek endings.

To seek  _ him. _

He sees the pale hand being presented to him. Blood pumps through it.  _ Life.  _ It reaches toward Death and suddenly Thanatos is eerily reminded of a child. 

A little girl with sunken eyes. Hair hanging limp upon the pillow as her fragile chest rises and falls so slowly. Her heart beats in her chest. It should not. __

_ It should  _ **_not._ **

It struggles to work. There is sickness inside. A disease with no cure. Each inhale rattles like bones. Each exhale sounds as if it is her last. 

_ It should be. _ **_Hurry._ **

Her pale cloudy eyes stare upwards toward nothing as the room's temperature drops slowly. There's a sudden hitch in her breath before her lost gaze steadily finds him.

She looks as Death approaches with her blighted mortal eyes. She sees him. Recognises that the end has come. 

She is struggling.

In  _ pain _ .

It is his job to stop it and she knows.

**_He_ ** _ knows. _

It is in his _,_ and only his, power to do so.

Yet here he is still as stone, quiet as only Death can be. She is young. So young. Of a precious age that should not know of the pains her short life has been built from. Innocent as the darkness itself, as the butterflies Thanatos has grown to love. 

_ It is not fair. _

These are the moments that make his role hard.

She has not yet known joy. Has yet to step into the fields Death himself refuses to touch in respect of their beauty. She has yet to sleep soundly through the night. Has never known a moment without pain. He grieves her losses. The experiences she has never had.

Never will have.

_ Not in this body. _

He approaches the bed quietly. No sudden movements so not to scare her, though her outstretched palm tells him that would not be the case.

She is not sad. This world cannot sustain her. 

His hand moves silently to grasp hers. 

Her life was not fair. Death will not be the same.

Their hands touch. Her skin is almost as cold as his. It should not be.

In less than a second her chest suddenly rises. The rasping in and out of her breathing speeds up. Her body convulses but only for a second. Thanatos leans forward, gently cups her wet cheek and shushes her into eternal silence. 

It's quiet before her eyes finally fall shut. Her final breath is an exhale. 

_ Release. _

He swears he sees the slightest uptick of her lips, a quiet  _ thank you  _ only Death can hear as her small hand goes limp within his.

She is free now. There is no pain.

These are the things that make his role easy.

\--

Zagreus’ warm hand is still outstretched, still waiting. His red green eyes connect with Deaths, still warm, still so full of life and he says “Will you help me?”

Thanatos has known the way these things will end long before he was aware of it. Long before he recognised love and it's warmth in this eternally cold place. His help is vital in it's progression, in a time in which Zagreus will no longer roam the halls of his fathers house, when his warmth will not be felt among the endless number of shades or many caverns of Tartarus.

The underworld was not meant to sustain him nor he to sustain it. A phoenix must rise. Rebirth does not belong among the dead.

Thanatos will not wait and watch as that fire dims, as a breaking heart beats and blood flows through a living corpse.

There are fields for Zagreus to explore, winds he must feel upon his skin. Butterflies to see. His mother exists far beyond his fathers reach out where Zagreus belongs.

His feet are of fire, destruction. Thanatos knows wherever Rebirth may go, in some way, Death will always follow.

Thanatos slowly reaches out his hand, uses his other to gently cup Zagreus’ cheek. 

“ _ Yes _ .” he whispers simply and quietly. “Yes.” he repeats to assure the aching in his chest and the warmth on his cheeks. 

It is in his nature to seek endings, to guide to a new beginning.

Zagreus smiles and Thanatos remembers  _ balance. _

His role is not easy. He will miss seeing him so deeply. 

But it is not hard.

To see the smile on his face, to know that fire burns and that warmth will carry on, it is more than enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Just here exploring Thanatos' voice and who he is as a character, Don't mind me~
> 
> Find me @ItFlare on twitter and join me in screaming over these two pretty bois.


End file.
